Process for forming slivers from coconut fibers



Patented Feb. 20, 1940 UNITED STATES No Drawing. Application January 30, 1937, Se-' rial No. 123,254. In the NetherlandsFebruary Claims. (01.19 66) I a I H The invention refers to a process for treating the fibers obtained from the husk of coconuts,

in order to be able to form a sliver without breaking up the fibers by means of an alkali.

In British Patent No. 246,837 a process isde- "scribed by which coconut fibers are obtained directly from the husks of coconuts by treating the same with alkali, which fibers are fit to be mechanically spun. 10 A plant for executing this process economically has appeared to be very complicated and moreover very expensive and it was therefore impossible for small coconut estates and separate poor tropical farmers growing coco trees to establish such a plant.

Moreover the fibers treated with chemicals such as caustic soda in the manner as described in the said British patent have a brown colour. While such fibers when spun into yarn may be bleached, this treatment is very expensive. Moreoverin order to bring light colours upon the brown coloured yarn it was necessary to first bleach these yarns and then dye the same, so that these coco yarns were too expensive for many purposes.

The object of the present invention is to remove in'a surprisingly simple manner all these disadvantages and to obtain still other advantages which could not be obtained with the known processes, wherein the coco fibers as obtained by beating or retting the husks of the coconuts, even without any cooking process or breaking up by means of alkali, may directly be formed mechanically into a sliver which is adapted to be spun.

The process according to the invention principally consists therein, that the coconut fibers as they are, e. g., obtainable on the open market in the form of beaten fibers from husks of fully 40 ripened coconuts, either as retted spinning fibers or as brush fiber or the mattress-fiber obtained at the same time, or mixtures of those different kinds of coco fibers, are treated with a binding or adhesive fluid, e. g., a starch-water or diluted latex or the like adhesion-producing liquids, or the fibers are treated with dry ma terials which are adapted to enhance the natural adhesive qualities of the fibers themselves. After the treatment with adhesive liquids, which enables a most intensive preparing of the fibers,

and which therefore is considered most economical, the fibers are dried until a predetermined percentage of moisture is obtained, so that the adhesive has still such an activity that the coconut fibers stick to each other during the formation of the sliver, in order that the sliver which is required for the mechanical spinning can be formed during the whole spinning process. s q l t It is also possible to cook, the coco fibers directly in starch-water or other adhesive'liquids and then centrifuge and dry the same as above described. l

When treating the coco fibers, e. -g., with adhesive powder, this powder must also be so applied that the adhesive possesses equal activity when forming the sliver.

Thenthe coco fibers may be spun according to the method'as described in Dutch. Patent No.

26,854, wherein the pressureon the delivery rollers can be regulated inaccordance with the intensity of the activity ofthe adhesive.

An example of the simplicity with which the new process can be'executed is the following:

' The coco fibers are imported from oversea in hydraulically pressed bales. These bales are opened and the fibers passed into a centrifuge,

wherein at the same time starch-water is supplied containing about 25 grams of starch per 25 litre water.

When the centrifuge is filled the same'is rotated and during the rotation starch-water is supplied for some time. Practice will show soon enough how long this may be continued, but usually the filling of the centrifuge, the treatment with starch-water and the discharge of the centrifuge takes no more than four minutes,

so then a new process can begin.

The starch-water which is centrifuged out, is fit to be used morethan once, if a pump is pro- 35 vided to "circulate the liquid; 3

l The centrifuged coco fibers are preferably led to a mechanically fed drying apparatus, as used in many textile and other works, and whereby the final degree of wetness is regulated as re- 40 1 'quired.

For economically spinning the coco fibers this is of great importance, because it has appeared that when the degree of wetness is too high the card sliver cannot keep together the fibers, even when the sliver is formed under very 45 ceeds so quickly, that the coco fibers can be formed upon the carding bench into a sliver about ten minutes after they have been loosened from the bales.

If the supply to the drying apparatus is correct, the carding benches may be arranged directly behind the drying apparatus.

It is obvious that the above is only an example of the way to work economically. 7

Normally an addition of 25 grams starch to 1 litre water, if the starch-water is correctly prepared, will be sufiicient to make the binding material so active that the sliver may be formed.

The correct quantity of starch is more or less dependent on the coarseness or fineness of the fiber material. This is also the case with other binding or adhesive materials. It must always be so, that in case of normal conditioning of the fibers, the sliver can be formed upon the carding and the stretching benches.

Not only the process according to the invention avoids all disadvantages of British Patent 246,837, it has also several important advantages.

As generally known, it is very difficult to dye spun yarns to the very pith, to bleach or to impregnate againstattack by insects or microbes or against fire, because the twist of the spun yarn prevents the penetration of the liquid.

The process according to the invention enables the coco fibers first to be bleached, dyed or impregnated and then to be treated with adhesive fluids or liquids, whereby it is observed that by the treatment according to the invention there appears no difierence worth mentioning of colour between the unspun coloured fibers and thespun yarn, so that it is possible to import directly from the Dutch East Indies dyed or bleached fibers and spin the same here to coloured yarns. This process makes it possible to get an unlimited number of colour variations of the coco yarns by mixing dyed o-rbleached fibers or slivers upon the stretching benches,

A further advantage of the invention consists therein that by the addition of the adhesive, specially in the liquid process, this liquid will be equally distributed over all the fibers, so that the adhesion between the fibers during the spinning process of the yarnsgrows and the tensile strength of the yarns is raised, which later infiuences the strength of the fabrics made of these yarns.

The process according to the invention enables the poor coco tree farmer without expensive machine-plants to prepare his coco fibers, which may then be pressed into bales and sent to the works in order to be made spinnable by the new process for the mechanical spinning. The other chemicals, applying an adhesive to said fibers,

maintaining said adhesive in a tacky condition for -a length of time sufiicient to form a sliver, and

forming the fibers into a sliver while the adhesive is in said tacky condition.

2. A process for forming a sliver from coir fibers obtained from the husks of coconuts, which process comprises the steps of applying an adhesive to the fibers, maintaining said adhesive in a tacky condition for a length of time sufficient to form a sliver, and forming the fibers into a silver while the adhesive is in said tacky condition.

3. A process, as claimed in claim 1, in which the fibers are dyed before application of the adhesive.

4. A process, as claimed in claim 1, in which the fibers are bleached before application of the adhesive.

5. A process for forming a sliver from coir fibers obtained from the husks of coconuts, which process comprises the steps of treating the fibers with a liquid adhesive, dryingthe fibers until the adhesive assumes a tacky condition, maintaining the adhesive in said tacky condition for a length of time suficient to form a sliver, and forming the fibers into a sliver while the adhesive is in said tacky condition.

6. A process, as claimed in claim, 5, in which the fibers are boiled with the liquid adhesive.

'7. A process, as claimed in claim. 5, in which the liquid adhesive is added to the fibers in a centrifuge.

8. A process, as claimed in claim 5, in which:

the liquid adhesive consists of starch water containing about 25 grams of starch per liter of water. i

9. A process, as claimed in claim 5, in which the liquid adhesive consists of rubber latex.

10. A process, as claimed in claim 2, in which a dry adhesive powder is mixed with the fibers and is then brought into tacky condition before the sliver is formed.

BAREND GIJSBERTUS HEN- DRIKUS VAN DER JAGT. 

